Americans now own two of England's most cherished, successful, and legendary soccer teams in Manchester United and Liverpool. A third, Aston Villa, is also under American ownership. Much has been — both positive and negative — made about this fact.
I wish not to delve into this. Whatever the English faithful may think, it does point to one trend: For the Americans to step in and buy these clubs points to the economic potential English clubs represent.
While it's up for debate about who has Europe's best league (usually a debate that includes La Liga in Spain and Serie A in Italy), where the English have their Mediterranean counterparts licked is in the marketing of their brands. The Premiership has a TV deal in place that will provide the league with a whopping $5.3 billion in revenue (roughly $88 million per club) that will be shared.
if (preg_match('/Liverpool
• 18 times Champions of England (1st all-time)
• 5 Champions League titles (3rd all-time behind Real Madrid and AC Milan)
• 3 UEFA Cups ( tied for 1st with Juventus and Inter Milan)
• 3 Super Cups (tied for 2nd with Ajax)
Montreal Canadiens
• 24 Stanley Cups (1st all-time)
This does not come without a price. Increasingly, English clubs are falling under foreign ownership. The league also now has more imported players than any other of the major domestic leagues. During the World Cup, the Premiership boasted the most players that played in England far ahead of Germany, Spain or Italy. It wasn’t always this way. In the 1990s Italy and Spain were the two places the world’s best flocked to — and to a degree, still do. Still, with all this exposure, one has to wonder how this will affect the English game both in the office and on the field.
This may, in part, explain why Italy and Spain have not chosen to go the route of branding their soccer teams. They want to maintain control. However, is it a matter of time given the precedence the English league is setting? Or are they going to continue as is? If they do choose to market their leagues, they would represent a solid opponent to the Premiership. Don't believe me? Then here are four names: Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, and Juventus. Regardless, the Triumvirate of the Premiership, La Liga and Serie A continue to be the three best leagues in Europe — and arguably the world.
Article comments
1 - Dave Lifton
Good piece, Alessandro. I'm a Liverpool supporter and feel much better about Gilett and Hicks than I did about either of the other two deals that went through.
2 - alessandro nicolo
Thanks Dave. I have a soft spot for the Reds. I even own the scarf! Not bad for an AC Milan fan, eh?
3 - Dave Lifton
You mean you've forgiven them for Istanbul?
4 - alessandro nicolo
Heh. Not really! Can someone explan to me why Cech was allowed to jump off his line like that? Poor Milan. The whole year they could not hold leads in Italy. It was weird to see them collapse in those 10 or 15 minutes. They had contained Liverpool rather well up to that point. Full marks to Liverpool for taking advantage.
5 - Dave Lifton
You mean Dudek, don't you?
The reason why he was allowed to come off his line is because the ref didn't do his job and stop him. As a follower of calcio, you can certainly understand the concept of a player doing anything sneaky to gain an advantage, right?
6 - alessandro nicolo
Yes, Dudek. How did Cech get in my mind? And yes - but only fo rmy team! ;<)
7 - DM Osbon
As a Liverpool supporter I have been following the take over in the UK news but it is good to hear that Gillett respects the 'tradition' of the clubs he buys.
I am glad that the groundsharing scheme with Everton is not to be considered...Gillett's words on the matter, '...I don't want to be lynched'.
8 - Nick
whos number is 25